Façade
by BelatedBeliever1127
Summary: A monster is roaming the streets of New York City, preying on vulnerable women. The turtles need to put a stop to the rampage before someone else dies, but soon, they discover that the danger is closer to home than they first imagined. *contains darker themes*
1. Alive

**Hey everyone! This is my first attempt at a horror/thriller, so I really hope that you all like it! Please leave a review if you have the time. Your feedback is incredibly important! **

**I do not own anything, so please enjoy!**

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**Chapter 1: Alive**

Titian awoke slowly with a pounding headache and a foul taste in his mouth. The lights from a number of flickering computer monitors shone dully over the enclosed space, bathing every item in the room a light purple hue. He lay flat on his stomach, his cheek resting in a puddle something wet that smelled of moldy cheese, garlic and spoiled eggs. Fighting back his gag reflex, he pushed himself up on his elbows, and looked around him, taking in his surroundings. The laboratory was a mess, shards of glass and plastic littered the floor, tables were overturned and bits and pieces of various electronics lay scattered, broken beyond repair. _Damn, _Titian thought to himself grimly, _the egghead won't be very happy when he sees the state of his precious laboratory. _

He pushed himself unsteadily to his feet, stumbled forward a step and grabbed the edge of a table to regain his balance. His body trembled from the strain of keeping himself upright and Titian breathed heavily through his mouth as he continued to orient himself. _Wha-What the hell happened_? He squeezed his eyes closed and tucked his chin into his chest,trying to alleviate the pounding behind his eyes. _Th-The mutagen... but how...? _He swallowed hard, trying to bring some moisture to his dry throat. He would have to look into this matter further later, but for now... He looked down and uncertainly ran his fingers over the skin of one thigh, then of the other. _Legs… I have legs..._

Titian took an experimental step forward, every thought in his mind focusing on making his movements steady. Taking another deep breath, he carefully put one foot in front of the other, using the edge of the table to support his shaky weight. Titian smiled as he reached the end of the overturned table and allowed himself to release the edge and stand on his own. He swayed slightly, but by quickly adjusting his feet, he balanced his weight to where he could stand tall on his own. Boldly, he took a sure step forward, buckled, and then took another step, his confidence rising with each new movement.

Titian looked down into his hands. As deformed as they were, they were among the most beautiful things that he had ever seen. Turning them over and over, he worked his fingers, clenching them into fists and stretching them as straight as they would go. _What amazing things that I could do with these hands… _He dropped his hands to his sides and raised his head, his eyes sweeping the broken remnants of the room.

He froze when he caught sight of a floor length mirror that hung on the wall. Something had been thrown against it and had cracked it straight up the middle. Titian, his legs growing stronger with step, approached the mirror, his eyes fixed on the fractured image standing before him. He blinked, slowly taking it all in. _What a surreal feeling to have a form; to be solid, not just a thought or an idea._ Titian ran his hands over his own face and watched as his reflection mimicked his motions. Not taking his eyes from the face before him, he turned his head slightly to the right, then to the left as he took in every detail. He prodded the thin face and frowned heavily. _Scrawny little bastard, aren't you? _Clicking his tongue in distaste, he turned away from the shattered reflection.

He struck something small and round with his foot as he stepped forward. Frowning curiously, he looked down at the floor and saw a patterned cellular phone. He picked up the phone and hit a button, illuminating the screen. A girl's face appeared, round and freckled, smiling pleasantly up into the camera. _April._ His breath caught slightly as he gazed into the deep blue eyes of the image and willed her to look back, to acknowledge his existence, but the beautiful eyes stared past him as if he were nothing. Titian wanted to throw down the phone and shatter the image, but thought better of it. Instead, he looked past the photo of April and focused instead on the digital clock numbers. 1:38. _Damn, the egghead really doesn't know when to quit. _He set the phone down on the floor where he had found it and looked towards the small wooden door on the far wall.

Well, the night was young, and Titian wanted to see what the world outside of this dreary hole in the ground looked like. What was the point of living if you can't enjoy it? He knew of the surface and the innumerable possibilities that arose from that place, so damn it, he was going to go out there to see what he could find to validate his sense of being.

He spotted a long brown trench coat and a ratty felt fedora hanging on a hook near the door. _What could he possibly want with those ugly things?_ Something in his brain warned him that his appearance could be dangerous on the surface, and a disguise may serve him better. _Better to be safe than sorry. _He snatched the coat off the wall and slipped it on over his shoulders, tying the strap closed. Pulling the fedora over his eyes, he looked over his shoulder into the cracked mirror. _I look like a fuckin' idiot, _he thought to himself stepped back from the light and was pleasantly surprised that the hat masked his features almost completely and the trench coat concealed his strange physique. He may look like an idiot, but at least he wasn't going to be an idiot that anyone would ever know again.

Titian cracked the wooden door open and peered up and down the darkened hallway carefully. Of course, there wasn't anyone there. The only sounds that he could hear was a deep rumbling snore coming from a room further down the hall. It sounded like a grizzly bear with a bad head cold, and that didn't help Titian's headache at all. He had the sudden urge to permanently silence the source of the noise, but pushed it aside. He had to exert some semblance of self-control if he wanted his existence to be kept secret from the turtles for the time being.

He sneaked down the hall and down a set of stone steps, making as little sound as he could manage. The living area was in even worse shape than the laboratory. Video cassettes lay tumbled in a heap beside an old milk crate and a dozen grease-stained pizza boxes were stacked haphazardly around an active television that played an old infomercial that tried to sell the world's most innovative vegetable peeler. Titian wrinkled his nose at the smell of sweat and stale pizza that hung in the air like a poisonous fog. _The curse of a lair full of teenage turtles. _

Something groaned and shifted slowly on the couch. Titian froze, his heart seizing in surprise as he fixated on the peaceful rising and falling of a patterned shell ridge that peaked over the back. Cautiously, he crept forward to get a better look. The turtle slept on his side, his orange mask slipped up on the side of his face, covering one closed eye. A slice of congealing pizza hung limply from one hand as he mumbled incoherently in his sleep. _What was his name again? _Titian pondered as he looked over the turtle's round, freckled face. _Oh yeah, the egghead called him Mikey, I think. God, what a stupid name. _A sharp snore brought Titian out of his abstraction and he backed away from the couch as the mumbling grew louder.

"But Donnie, I don't wanna tap dance with Fishface…"

The mumbling grew quieter and regressed into uninterrupted snoring. Titian suppressed an inner urge to face-palm as he turned away from the couch. Taking the steps two at a time, he effortlessly hopped over the toll towers and sprinted with silent feet down the subway tunnel.

Titian had no idea where he was going, and the tunnels seemed to stretch on for miles, yet he felt at home in the damp sewer. Allowing his intuition to guide him, he turned right, then left, then two more rights before reaching an iron ladder that was bolted into the wall. In his rush, Titian splashed through a stream of raw sewage as he bolted toward the ladder. A disgusted grimace deformed Titian's face. _Ugh, I cannot believe that he purposefully decides to live in this filth_. If it were up to _him_, the family of genetic misfits would be living like kings in the up on the surface, not secluded in some abandoned subway station like scared rats. They could have done whatever they pleased; which of the cowardly humans would have had the balls to confront them? Why not just take what life was offering them? Titian shook his head sadly as the wasted opportunity. _He_ wouldn't be making that mistake.

Grabbing the first rung of the ladder, Titian stared up into the inky blackness of his passage to the surface. He was giddy with nerves, his excitement for what was to come radiating from his core. He felt like that guy escaping from Shawshank Prison, and he wouldn't be surprised if when he reached the surface, there would be a downpour in progress that would wash him clean of the stains of his captivity. Titian had been a different type of prisoner, to be sure, but he was ready to taste freedom and experience the sights and smells of the city above for himself.

The rungs of the ladder were cold and clammy from the damp air. Titian grunted slightly as he hoisted himself up each step. Within a couple of minutes, he was balancing near the top, thin beams of light from the holes in the manhole cover shining down on his face. Positioning his feet securely on the ladder, he pushed the cover upwards. It was easier than he expected and he lifted up the cover an inch to get a good look at the surface world. He peered out into the night. The alley that lay before him was deserted, just a large green dumpster, a wide stack of cardboard boxes and an assortment of street trash that was strewn about and rustled by the wind.

He inhaled through his nose, the odor of the sewers mingling with the clouds of car exhaust and the smell of rotting garbage. With as little noise as he could manage, he slid the manhole cover off of the rim and slid it across the ground, giving himself room to climb out. A spooked cat yowled nearby and scampered out of the alley, making Titian start in surprise. He adjusted his coat and hat tentatively before turning to look towards the street. He caught his breath when he saw a woman in a little tight miniskirt stood underneath a streetlight.

Titian's eyes widened as she shifted uncomfortably on her tall cork wedges and adjusted the large bag slung over her shoulder. Her tight miniskirt hugged her ass suggestively and the light movement drew his attention to it even more than the cut of the skirt. He felt heat rising in his face as he stared at her slender curves. _I have to get closer… just to get a better look at her. _Treading on feather soft feet, he stealthily crept out of the darkened alley towards the woman, who seemed to still be quite unconscious of his presence.

She checked her watch and looked around the empty street. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as she glanced up towards the starless sky. She was pretty, her long red hair fell loosely around her shoulders and she only wore enough makeup to accentuate her features, rather than hide any imperfections. She smelled of lavender and vanilla and her pale skin glistened with a light sheen of sweat, brought on by the heat of the late summer.

Titian felt his heart rate quicken as his wandering eyes drifted down to the tall, pale column of her throat, settling on her perky breasts as they rose and fell gracefully beneath her clinging top. Titian took a deep breath, steeling himself. _This has to go perfectly,_ he thought to himself as he opened his mouth to speak, hoping that his voice wouldn't crack under the pressure.

"It's awfully late for you to be out here all by yourself."

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**Thank you all for reading!**


	2. Nightmares

**Hey everyone! Whoa, so here's the next chapter! Thanks to those who left wonderful reviews for this story and also to those who liked and followed! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Turtles! **

**Enjoy and Happy Reading! **

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**Chapter 2: Nightmares**

"_Look, I'm just inviting you out for a drink. There's no problem with that," a soft, persuasive voice implored, its hands raised innocently towards the pretty girl in the miniskirt. She shook her head of loose red hair with a sense of finality as she retreated a step. _

"_And I said _no_. Get the picture?" She turned on her corked heel and started trotting away indignantly. A hand reached out and grabbed her arm roughly, swinging her back around. _

"_Don't you turn your back on me, you little bitch." The voice snarled in her face. She snarled back and struck out at the source of the voice. There was a short exclamation of pain, a growl of indignant fury. The girl looked up for a long moment before letting out a long blood-curdling scream._

"NO!"

Donatello awoke with a start and sat straight up in bed, his sheets soaked in sweat. He panted heavily, clenching the sheets up in his fists as he oriented himself to his surroundings. The tightness in his chest lessened as he slowly convinced himself that he was safely in his own bedroom.

"Oh thank God," Donnie said softly, pulling his knees up towards his plastron and burying his head in his hands, "it was just a nightmare." He took a number of deep, purposeful breaths, trying to slow his racing heart, but it just kept pounding furiously in a suspended state of terror. A burning sensation on his cheek made him hiss in pain and pull his hands away. An irregular spot of blood stained his palm and he stared dumbly at it, not able to wrap his mind around its presence.

He couldn't get the girl's frightened face out of his head, nor could he rid himself of her unearthly screams. It had all felt so real, like he had actually _been _there; had witnessed the entire thing. _It was just a nightmare, Donnie. Just a bad dream brought on by eating deep dish jalapeño and bacon lover's pizza before bed._ His whole body trembled like a leaf as he glanced over at the clock by his bed. The bright LED display blinked 9:08 and he groaned loudly, leaning his head back against the wall.

"Crap. I slept through practice? Sensei is going to _kill_ me…"

He dragged himself out of bed, peeling the damp sheets off of his clammy skin. His feet felt like lead as he trudged towards the door. He froze when he caught his reflection in the mirror on his bureau. His face looked awful, like he had gone a couple of rounds with the Shredder in a cage fight. One of his eyes was blackened and his jaw was swollen and blotchy with darkening bruises. He ran his fingers gingerly over the four long scratches that ran down the curve of his cheek. For the life of him, he couldn't think of where he could have gotten so hurt. And, for that matter, why he hadn't tended to those injuries.

He turned away from his reflection and slumped out of his room and down the hall towards the kitchen. From the incessant chatter and smell of frying bacon, Donnie surmised that his brothers had already started breakfast without him. Part of him wondered if they had bothered to set any food aside for him as he shuffled through the living area and into the kitchen.

Mikey and Raph sat at the table in the kitchen, each plowing into a plate of bacon and eggs. Donnie was grateful to see that someone had already set the coffee pot brewing. Pouring himself a generous cupful, he took a deep draft from it and felt the warmth trickle all the way through his system down to his toes. Raph looked up from his half eaten breakfast and raised his own mug at him.

"Mornin' Sleepin' Beauty." Raph teased with a grin_. _ Mikey chuckled into his orange juice as Donnie glared down at his older brother.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Raph. How come nobody came to wake me up?" Donnie pulled up a chair and plopped down next to Mikey, who inched a little to one side to allow his brother room at the table.

"Believe me, Leo tried to raise you several times but you were out, man. Might as well have been trying to wake up a statue." Raph shoved his last three slices of bacon into his mouth and belched loudly. Donnie grimaced disgustedly and flicked away a speck of food that had landed on his arm.

"It's no big deal, D," Mikey said good-naturedly through a mouthful of scrambled eggs, "Master Splinter was cool with letting you sleep in."

"That's not the point, Mikey." Donnie retorted sullenly as he swirled the coffee absently in his mug. Raph chuckled and rose from his chair, grabbing his empty plate and setting it in the sink.

"It's not really like you could keep up with us anyway, not with how you're lookin' today," he smirked as he walked around the back of the table towards the door.

A muscle twitched in Donnie's eye at the barb. _Arrogant son of a bitch…_ He glared at Raph's shell as he sauntered out of the kitchen. Looking uncertainly between his brothers, Mikey hurriedly shoveled the rest of his eggs into his mouth and dumped his own plate into the sink as well. He cast a fleeting smile at his brother before chasing after Raph, complaining that Crognard was going to be on soon and he better leave the remote alone if he knew what was good for him.

Taking a long swig from his coffee, Donnie drained the mug and scorched his tongue in the process. Grimacing with discomfort, he rose quickly and made a beeline for the coffee pot for a refill. Hot coffee sloshed over his hand and he jerked back with a yelp at the pain, dropping the mug and shattering it on the floor. Swearing loudly, he grabbed a handful of paper towels from the roll and started mopping at the spilled coffee on the floor.

At that moment, Leo came into the kitchen, scratching idly at an itch behind his head. He met Donnie's gaze and offered him a bright, disarming smile. The purple banded turtle attempted to return the smile, but his heart wasn't in it.

"Morning, Donnie. You feeling okay?" Leo knelt down to help Donnie pick up the pieces of shattered porcelain from the kitchen floor.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Donnie retorted sarcastically.

Leo shrugged noncommittally as he tossed the shards of broken mug into the trash can. Unsuccessfully trying to mask his worried expression, he turned to the stove and scooped a helping of eggs and bacon onto a plate.

"You're working too hard, Donnie. You look awful." Donnie looked up to see Leo watching him in that mother hen way that made him feel smothered. He rolled his eyes as he grabbed another handful of paper towels and mopped at the spilled coffee on the counter.

"You know I'm working on some very important stuff, Leo," he said as he tossed the sopping mess of paper into the trash. "I've almost got the retromutagen for Karai synthesized and I've got to finish outfitting the Party Wagon with the new weapons systems." Selecting a new mug from a cabinet, Donnie filled it carefully with coffee, minding his scalded hand. He leaned up against the counter and took a large swallow of the inky black beverage as Leo bit into a slice of bacon.

"I know, but frankly, you look like shit."

"Gee, thanks. It's nice to be surrounded by such encouraging entourage." Donnie quipped sarcastically as he sat down at the table next to Leo. The blue clad turtle captured his gaze, piercing him with narrow cobalt eyes.

"I'm serious. You need to slow down. You're going to make yourself sick one day."

"Duly noted, but really, I'm fine."

Leo looked like he wanted to continue to argue the point, but to Donnie's relief, he scooped a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"So, what happened to your face?" he asked through his breakfast. Donnie frowned as he considered, absently touching the scratches on his cheek.

"I'm not sure. I'd say that I did it in practice this morning, but apparently I slept through it." He said, putting some bitter inflection into his words. Leo looked patiently back at him, gritting on Donnie's already sensitive nerves.

"We tried waking you, we really did, but you were sleeping really hard."

Donnie sighed and shook his head. He wasn't going to get anywhere by moping about it. Draining his mug, he rose from the table and left the kitchen, leaving Leo staring after him.

As he passed through the living area, he could hear the soft accented tone of Carlos Chaing O'Brien Gambe as he read the morning news broadcast. Apparently, Raph had gotten to the remote first. Something prompted Donnie to turn his head towards the television. He stopped short and stared at a photograph of a girl that materialized behind the newscaster's head. Something about it struck a cord in the back of his mind, a strange wistfulness that he couldn't quite place. Without taking his eyes from the screen, he hopped over the back of the couch and sat down next to Mikey, pushing his smelly feet off the cushions.

"In other news, a young college student was found bludgeoned to death in an alley in upper Manhattan early this morning. Twenty-two year old, Diana Brockhurst, a marketing student at NYU, was reported missing by friends shortly after 2:00 a.m. after leaving a nightclub…"

"Goddammit…" Raph said shortly, turning down the volume a few notches and shaking his head at the news story, "Can't those perverts keep their damn hands to themselves?"

Donnie barely heard his comment. He couldn't stop staring at the photograph of the murdered girl. She was very pretty, with large brown eyes and long red hair cascading in waves over her shoulders. Her smile was bright and full of mirth as she cradled a golden retriever puppy in her arms. She had kind eyes, and Donnie couldn't tear his eyes away from hers. _Only those eyes didn't look kind before… they had looked terrified…_

"-lo? Earth to Donnie?"

"What?" He turned towards the sofa where Mikey was lounging, his large blue eyes filled with concern.

"I asked you if you were okay. You kinda zoned out for a second."

"Fine… I'm fine." Donnie rose from the couch like he were in a trance and trudged slowly towards his lab. _That's the girl from my nightmare… Why do I keep seeing her face? _He pushed open the door and stopped dead in his tracks, the nightmare utterly forgotten.

Everything was in shambles. The motherboards that he had slaved over for two weeks lay in broken pieces and the new CPU that he was planning to install in the lair's security system was shattered beyond recognition. Not to mention, several vials of chemicals were smashed, their contents splattered all over the floor. His fists clenched and he felt the irate heat rising in his face as he glared at the purple puddle that had once been the retromutagen that, in time, would have separated the snake DNA from Karai's human DNA strands. Donnie gnashed his teeth so hard that he thought one of them might crack. There was only one little pest who could have been responsible for this.

"MIKEY!"

"Yes?" Mikey called back innocently. Donnie turned on his heel and stormed out of the lab and back into the living room. All three brothers looked up at him as he loomed over the youngest with murder in his eyes.

"What the _hell_ have you been doing in my lab?!" Donnie was fuming; on the verge of tearing his little brother a new one.

"Nothing! I haven't been in there since you threw me out yesterday." Holding up his hands in surrender, Mikey stared at Donnie with wide, worried eyes.

"Well, then explain to me it look like you and Ice Cream Kitty were holding another line dancing competition in there!" He pointed back towards the lab, not taking his eyes from his baby brother.

Mikey shrank back from his brother's accusatory tone, thoroughly speechless.

"Donnie, I-"

"Donnie, lay off." Leo said as he pushed his brother away from the couch. Donnie flashed him a dangerous look. _How could he be standing up for the little creep? He's always doing this!_

"But he-," Donnie started to complain but was cut off by Leo's imperious tone.

"He probably didn't do anything wrong." They both looked in Mikey's direction and he put on his most innocent face as he scooted a little closer to Raph on the couch.

"You _never_ say anything to him when he messes up my stuff!"

Donnie continued to glare at Mikey, and was acutely aware that Raph had now turned away from the television and was glaring at him as well. Leo crossed his arms forbiddingly, looking a good deal like Master Splinter, which didn't help Donnie's mood. Just because Leo was Splinter's little clone and the leader of the team didn't mean that he got to boss him around.

"We have no proof that he did anything to your lab. He says he didn't do anything, so you need to give him the benefit of the doubt."

Donnie could feel his ire rising at the injustice. They just didn't understand how important his experiments and inventions were to him. Maybe, they just didn't care. Nobody fucking cares about how things could possibly save their lives; just that they did. _Just shut up and fix it, Donnie._ _That's a good little nerd. Now just crawl back into your corner until we need you again._ The self-deprecating thoughts bounced around his skull as he turned his back on his brothers.

"Whatever, Leo," Donnie huffed moodily and stalked into his lab, slamming the door roughly behind him. Leaning back against the door, he looked around the disaster zone and sighed heavily. If he was going to get any kind of work done, he was going to have to start getting this mess cleaned up. Grabbing a broom, he started sweeping up the shards of glass and fragments of circuitry into a little pile. _Two months of work completely ruined, _he thought ruefully as he pushed the refuse into a dustpan and dumped it all into his trash can.

He picked up a shard from a broken mirror and looked into it. God, he looked awful. The scratches on his cheek were deep and jagged and the bruising around his eye was purple and blotchy. He gingerly touched his cheek and frowned in confusion. _What the hell happened last night? _Donnie wondered as he tossed the shard into the trash and continued trying to bring some order back from the chaos that was his laboratory.

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**Thanks everybody for reading! I hope that you take the time to leave a review and let me know what you think! **


	3. Fatigue

**Hey everybody! Thank you all for reading and for leaving wonderful reviews! I also want to offer a special thank you to Faithful Whispers for being so wonderful and making amazing suggestions for this chapter and for future ones! **

**I own nothing! Enjoy the story!**

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**Chapter 3: Fatigue**

Donatello slumped forward on the couch, his brain fuzzy with weariness and his chin resting in his hand. His eyes felt heavy and they itched from lack of sleep. He felt like he hadn't slept in a week, though he had gone to bed every night like clockwork. To top it all off, he hadn't even had the energy to work on repairing the circuit boards that had been broken earlier that week.

He didn't even register that he was holding a slice of hot fudge and Dorito pizza in his hand, and it slipped from his fingers ignominiously to the floor, landing with a light splat on the rug between his feet. Yawning deeply, he attempted to listen to his brothers' conversation nearby. They had been in deep discussion for the past half hour. Correction: Raph and Leo had been in deep discussion. Mikey had been belly-aching about one thing or another; Donnie had a hard time following what it was all about. _God, what is wrong with me lately? I can't even think straight… _His attention was arrested by Mikey's loud petulant sigh as he lolled sulkily in the beanbag chair a few feet away.

"Dudes, do we _have _to go out patrolling tonight? They're playing a B-list horror movie marathon later!" Mikey whined, pouting with sad puppy dog eyes, "When else am I going to get the chance to watch 'Revenge of the Killer Sludge Monster'?"

"There have been four murders in a week, Mikey. We _need_ to find this guy and put a stop to him before another girl gets killed." Leo explained as he turned towards his little brother with a serious look in his cool blue eyes. "Besides, you've seen 'Revenge of the Killer Sludge Monster' five times already."

"Correction, dear brother. I have only seen that movie _four_ times." He held up the same amount of fingers in order to emphasize his point.

"Whatever, knucklehead." Raph huffed irritably as he turned his attention to his older brother. "You really think the guy's with the Foot?"

Leo massaged his chin thoughtfully. "It's possible. The guy's a ghost and a rogue Foot ninja would definitely have the stealth capabilities to elude the police like he has."

"But he won't get by _us_." Mikey quipped boastfully, striking a heroic pose. Donnie grinned distractedly as both Leo and Raph rolled their eyes in unison. Shaking his head in dismissal of his little brother's antics, Leo continued, his brow furrowing with deep thought.

"According to the news, the guy's getting more escalated. He went from bludgeoning the women to death to stabbing and mutilating them. He's getting more dangerous and he needs to be stopped."

Raph growled angrily deep in his throat as he gripped his sais in tight fists.

"God damn that bastard. We need to take that son of a bitch down."

Donnie didn't hear much more of their conversation after that. His eyes began to drift close and his chin started to slip out of his cupped hand. When his head fell forward, he jerked upward with a surprised gasp. Blinking rapidly, he shook his head sharply as he tried to clear some of the fuzziness from his head.

"Donnie?" Mikey's breathy voice penetrated the fog of fatigue that surrounded his brain.

"Hrm?" Donnie lifted his head and saw that all three of his brothers were staring at him.

"Dude, you should stay home. You look like you're about to face plant into that delicious pizza." Donnie glanced down at the open pizza box at his feet as Mikey dropped into the seat next to him and scooped up a slice for himself.

"Uh, s-sorry. I really haven't been sleeping well lately." He rubbed his eyes and yawned deeply. When he opened his eyes, he caught Leo casting a glance towards Raph with a raised eye ridge. He shrugged shortly and looked down at Donnie with something resembling concern creasing his face.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Mikey's right." Leo sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"You know it, bro." Mikey said, interlocking his fingers behind his head with a smug smile on his face. Leo glared in his direction as Raph smacked his little brother across the back of the head.

"Ow!," Mikey complained as he rubbed the sore spot from the blow. Coming around to Donnie's side, Leo laid a hand on his shoulder. His face was pinched with worry, but he kept his voice level and authoritative.

"As I was saying, you should stay here tonight, Donnie. Get some rest."

Donnie sighed and nodded resignedly.

"Maybe you're right, Leo. I'd probably just slow you guys down."

He didn't have the energy to be offended when no one uttered a word of protest. Leo offered one last brotherly squeeze on the shoulder and turned back to Raph and Mikey, his expression composed once more.

"Let's get going guys. If we have a hope of catching this guy, we need to get into position now."

"Whoo! I call shotgun!" Mikey took off like a shot towards the garage, Leo on his heels. Raph paused momentarily in front of Donnie, his face softening slightly.

"You sure you're going to be alright, Donnie?" Raph asked quietly. Swaying lightly on his feet, Donnie nodded and offered his big brother a small smile.

"Oh yeah, I'll be fine. Hope you guys catch the bastard."

Raph's face grew grim. "There's not going to be much left for the cops when I get done with him."

Donnie waved dismissively as he headed for the stairs. Turning back midway up, he saw that Raph was watching his ascent over his shoulder as he made his way to the garage. _Big softie. _Donnie couldn't help but smile at his brother's concern, though Raph would rather go one on one with Kraang Prime than admit it.

His feet dragged slightly as he trudged towards his bedroom, his mind only focused on getting some much needed repose. Donnie could practically hear the bed calling his name and he quickened his pace, stumbling over the door jamb in his earnestness. He fell into bed and laid there for a moment, the sweet relief of impending rest starting to take hold of him.

Once he climbed under his quilt, Donnie pulled it up to his chin and settled comfortably in bed, allowing the drowsiness to envelop him like a warm embrace from an old friend. As he closed his eyes, he hoped that there would be no nightmares tonight; no more faces, no more screams. Just blackness and sweet silence. That was the last thought he had as he allowed himself to drift into the unconscious void.

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_Donnie opened his eyes, and took in his surroundings. He was standing near the back of an alley, with the moon full overhead. It was unbearably hot and muggy, making the fumes a pile of garbage hang like a heavy fog around him. Looking down, he saw that he was dressed in a stained trench coat, and that he had his hands stuck in his pockets. _

_The alley was dimly lit, only illuminated by the shine of a streetlight farther down the street. In the pale light, a girl stood just inside the mouth of the alley, lighting up a cigarette with a practiced hand. She was tall and thin, with short blonde hair that almost looked white under the street light. Dressed in a pink button up top and tight fitting jean shorts, she looked like what Daisy Duke would look like with a boy cut. _

_Donnie felt his heart rate quicken as he started walking towards the girl. He tried to stop himself, but his limbs continued to move without his permission. Eventually, he gave up and watched helplessly as his body moved towards the girl with a confident stride. _

_ "Hey there." Donnie felt his mouth move and a strange voice rumbled from his throat. It was low and gravelly, sending a chill up his spine. The girl tensed for a split second, then relaxed as she took a deep drag from her cigarette, her eyes confident and bright._

"_Hey yourself," she said conversationally, a cloud of toxic smoke rising from her mouth as she spoke. _

"_I'm Titian." The girl's heavily made up eyes looked him over curiously as she raised the cigarette to her lips again. _

"_Callie." _

"_You know those things could kill you." He nodded towards the cigarette in the girl's hand. She scowled, looked down at the smoldering filter in her fingers and blew the smoke out of her nose with an irritated huff. _

"_Get bent, asshole." She dropped the cigarette and ground it out with her toe. _

"_Just trying to be helpful," the source of the voice retorted with a shrug. The girl's glare became resentful and she stepped away from the wall she had been leaning on. "Where do you think you're going?" Donnie could feel his lips curling into a sneer. The girl's face grew defensive as she turned back. _

"_Wherever the hell I want to," she spat back and turned to leave. With an unreasonable anger rising in his chest, his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. He pulled her back into the alley with brutal force and sent the girl sprawling to the ground. _

"_Someone! Please! Help me!," the girl screamed desperately into the darkness. Titian effectively silenced her cries with a swift jab to the throat. While she gasped for air, he straddled her, putting all of his weight on her abdomen, and pinning down her arms with his knees. She kicked uselessly at his back, but he struck her across the face with the back of his hand. Grabbing the neck of her button-up blouse, he ripped it open, scattering the buttons and revealing a lacy pink brassiere. _

_Donnie watched helplessly as his hand reached into the pocket of the trench coat, pulling out a razor sharp scalpel. Callie's eyes widened, and she shook her head desperately. Horror filling his mind, Donnie silently commanded his hand to drop the scalpel, but it firmly held the blade in its grasp. _No! What are you doing?,_ he silently implored. _

"_Please," she rasped painfully, her wide blue eyes filling up with tears, "don't kill me, mister."_

"_Say my name, Callie, and I might consider it." Titian ran the edge of the blade just under the girl's collarbone. She gasped with pain and fright as a ribbon of blood welled up from the incision. _

_ "T-T-Titian…," she whimpered brokenly. _

"_Callie?" He leered facetiously down on the frightened tears that spilled down Callie's pale cheeks. She hiccupped over her words as she tried to get them out. _

"_P-Please, let me go. I won't tell anyone, I swear…" her pleading faltered at the slow shaking of his head. _

Let her go, goddammit! She doesn't deserve this! _Donnie felt sickened as he felt a cold smile creep across his face, and the voice spoke, menacing and mocking. _

"_Won't you, you deceitful little slut?" _

_He made a new incision in the flawless skin on her left breast, curving the blade and cutting deeper into the muscle. Callie's terrified cries were high pitched and broken by deep, wrenching sobs. Titian grinned broadly at her pain, feeling a heightened sense of ecstasy as he watched the blood flow like rivers of crimson molasses over her pale skin. Donnie felt sick at the sight of the blood, but the monster's hungry eyes were fixed on the scene, and he had no choice but to watch. _

"_All women are liars and users." Titian muttered venomously, slicing downwards with a steady hand. He finished the stroke and inspected his work before running the edge back over the skin over the right breast. _

Stop! Stop this! Please! _Donnie implored, struggling to make himself heard. _

"_No. No, we're not." Callie shook her head quickly, her chest heaving unsteadily through her sobs. Pausing mid-stroke, Titian looked down into her deep blue eyes with the exasperated impatience of a parent who has caught a child in a lie. Donnie couldn't help but wonder why her assurance infuriated him this way. _

"_No one knows better than me how willing women are to play with a man's heart and trample him underfoot when it suits their purpose," Titian said coldly as he finished the stroke and admired the finished product. The 'T' was a little asymmetrical, but that could be excused this time. _

_Leisurely, he pressed the scalpel point against Callie's throat, just over the pulsing jugular vein. Her eyes were closed and she choked back a sob, as if she had resigned herself to her fate. He applied pressure as he slashed her throat with a swift flick of his wrist. Blood spurted from the severed blood vessel, splashing on Titian's coat and immediately soaking into the fabric. He stared, mesmerized, as he watched the dying woman struggle for breath while she clawed feebly at the ground. _

NO! _Donnie struggled to stop Titian, silently pleading him drop the knife and stop the bleeding. He had to save this girl. She couldn't die! His hands, however, continued to move without his permission. Reaching the blade to the other side of her throat, Titian made one final stroke, issuing another flow of deep red blood. _

_Cupping her bloody face with his hands, he leaned down and kissed her passionately. Callie struggled feebly under him, moaning protests so faint that Titian didn't even register them in his excitement. The salt of her tears and sharp metallic tang of her blood danced across his tongue, erotic and forbidden as he forced it roughly into her mouth. He kissed her long and deep, making every second memorable. Donnie's mind recoiled from the twisted thoughts that this monster was thinking and he tried to silence them, but they kept coming in dark waves. _

_As she choked on her own blood, Callie coughed weakly into his mouth. She took a shuddering breath and released a painful sigh, gradually going limp under his touch. As if on an impulse, Titian sucked her last breath deep into his lungs and held it for a moment, imagining that her life force now dwelt in him, giving him new energy. He finally exhaled, and smiled up towards the sky as if to wish Callie's spirit a fond farewell. _

_Once he brought his attention back down to earth, Titian turned his large hands over, staring at the slick, crimson that thickly coated his palms. He placed the tip of his first finger in his mouth and swirled his tongue around it lustily, reveling in the taste of her blood. So sweet. She really had been perfect, even up until the end. Donnie shuddered as the monster's thoughts echoed in his mind, how the surge of adrenaline fired through every synapse of his brain and made every detail twice as vivid in his mind, burning it forever into his memory. _

_His jaws moved again as the voice spoke once more, chuckling with malevolent mirth. _

"_Did you enjoy the show, Donatello?" _

Donnie screamed and sat straight up in bed, his breath coming in heavy pants. His mouth was dry, and he was coated with a cold sweat. _Oh God. Not again. When is this shit going to stop?_ Tears blurred his vision, and he fervently mopped at his face as he sobbed wretchedly into his hands. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried like this, but the thought of the brutality he had just witnessed broke his heart and reduced him to a blubbering mess.

"My son!" Donnie looked up and saw Master Splinter standing in the doorway of his bedroom, his eyes heavy with sleep and glinted with parental concern. "Are you alright?"

Donnie looked up into his father's eyes and choked back a frightened sob. Splinter approached and sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing his shell in a way that had comforted him when he was a young turtle. Donnie pulled his knees up to his plastron and wrapped his arms around his legs.

"No, Sensei," he answered brokenly, "I've just had an awful nightmare."

He shivered violently as Splinter pulled him into his arms. He tried to find solace in the embrace, but all he could see behind his eyes was Callie's dying face, her dark blood coagulating on the ground under her as gave her final gasp.

"It is alright, my son. You are safe here." Splinter's voice was low and comforting, but Donnie's mind reeled against feeling anything positive. Not with what he had just seen. He leaned his head against his father's shoulder and closed his eyes. He really wasn't sure he was safe anywhere. Not with this Titian haunting his dreams.

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**Thank you all for reading this chapter!**

**So, voting is open for the TMNT Fanfiction Competition on Stealthy Stories! Hooray! A lot of wonderful stories have been nominated for awards this year, so please go to the website (the link is on my profile) and go vote for your favorites! All of the nominees thank you! **

**Until next time!**


	4. Mistaken

**Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Thank you to all of you for reading, liking, following and leaving reviews to this story. It all means so much! Be sure to check out other stories on my profile page, including my collaborative story with Faithful Whispers, titled 'Consuming Darkness'. **

**Thanks a bunch to Faithful Whispers for beta reading this chapter for me. Hope you all enjoy! Leave a review and let me know what you think!**

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Casey Jones was bored out of his skull. Nothing was happening on the streets tonight. No muggings, no robberies, not even any gang activity. An absolute snore-fest.

_God, this is like watching ugly paint dry, _he thought sullenly as he popped the tab of another Cola. Taking a healthy swallow of the fizzy beverage, he wiped his sweaty face with his sleeve and scowled into the darkness.

It was impossible to get a hold of Raph these days. While he and the guys were busy trying to track down the nut job who was killing girls all over Midtown, Casey was stuck on the sidelines… again. It was just like when the whole invasion thing happened. They had just left him behind, even though he could have helped, and probably could have kicked his share of ass while saving the world.

But no; Leo, being the stuck-up asshat that he was, had insisted that they could take care of it. It's not like the guy they were after hadn't already killed seven girls or anything. What really ground his gears was how quickly Raph had agreed with him. Raph was his best friend, after all. He should be sticking up for him, not shutting him down! He was really starting to get sick of this shit; that was for damn sure. Finishing off his drink with a giant gulp, Casey crushed the empty can against the metal plate in his head before tossing it into the dumpster below.

_Man, this blows…_ He wanted to be out there with the turtles, kicking ass and taking names. Instead, he was sitting on a fire escape landing, staring up at the starless, slightly smoggy sky. He might as well go home. Even trig homework seemed more exciting than sitting on his ass in the middle of the night. He stretched lazily, hoping that something would happen to save him from the going off his rocker.

"No, get away from me!"

He looked up, surprised by a woman's frantic tone, below and not too far away. There was a metallic crash, followed by a terrified scream.

_Oh yeah. This looks like a job for Casey Jones. _Pushing his mask over his face, he climbed down the fire escape and hopped into the alley. Engaging his roller skates, he sped around the corner and skidded to a stop. His eyes widened under his mask as he stared at the scene before him.

There was a tall guy dressed in a trench coat and fedora, standing over the cowering figure of a woman between a couple of dumpsters. She ducked down, covering her head with her hands as she screamed loudly at her attacker.

"No! No, please, don't-"

"Hey!"

The figure's head snapped up, turning sharply in his direction. Casey saw a pair of bright red eyes leering at him from under the brim of the fedora. The eyes of a demon. They really gave him the creeps as Casey fought the chills that crept down his spine.

"Hands off her, creep!" he drew his hockey stick and gripped it tightly in both hands, "Or you will be dealing with Casey Jones!"

"Scram, kid," the figure said, his voice low and gravelly, "I don't have time to deal with you tonight."

"That's just too damn bad, dirt bag!" Casey swung at an empty tin can next to him, sending it flying towards him. he can was knocked aside by a quick slice of the creep's hand so quickly, Casey barely saw the movement. He stood up slowly, looming even from a distance.

The sobbing girl struggled to her feet and scurried away, not even looking back. The guy in the trench coat turned slightly after her as she disappeared into the darkness. He looked back at Casey with a snarl.

"You're going to pay for that, you little shit."

"Bring it, you fucking pervert!" Casey retorted as he smacked his hockey stick against the pavement, preparing himself for battle. The creep chuckled low in his throat, the sound mocking and humorless.

Casey growled and charged forward, his skates clacking loudly against the pavement. Slicing with both hands, he swung it at the guy's neck. The guy ducked at the last second and thrust the heel of his hand into the middle of Casey's chest. The force of the strike propelled him backwards and he lost his grip on the hockey stick. It clattered loudly as it slid under one of the graffitied dumpsters, completely out of reach. Landing flat on his ass, he coughed hard as he tried to catch the breath that had been knocked from him.

Casey struggled to his feet, having trouble getting the wheels of his skates to find any traction. He was really pissed now. Swinging hockey stick in a wide arc, he launched three of his hockey puck explosives at the creep. He ducked into the shadows, followed closely by the explosives. After a few seconds, the explosives detonated, one after the other. The flash from the detonations illuminated the alley for a fraction of a second, making the outline of the the guy clear. He had turned his back to Casey, hunching over to avoid the blinding light. Now was his chance to stop this son of a bitch once and for all.

Spurring himself forward, Casey skated toward him, pulling his baseball bat off his back.

"Goongala!"

Casey swung the bat at his head with all of his strength. It passed through midair, striking the opposite brick wall. The impact jarred his arms, causing him to drop the bat. The figure punched him in the sternum, then across his jaw as he doubled over. Casey dropped to his knees, holding his face as he sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. _Goddamn, the guy's strong. Think he chipped a tooth or somethin'. _His eyes widened at the unmistakable sound of his baseball bat being picked up and he looked up at the guy standing over him. The creep gripped the bat solidly with both hands and wound up like he was about to hit a grand slam.

Suddenly, a blinding explosion of red and blue light illuminated the alley, followed by the squawk of a siren.

"Freeze! Police!" a gruff voice commanded.

Casey turned and looked up into the barrel of a patrolman's gun. He looked around him rapidly, but the creep was gone, vanished into thin air. All that remained of him was the discarded baseball bat.

"Put your hands up," the officer ordered sternly as he tightened his grip on the gun.

"But-"

"Do _not_ make me shoot you, boy!"

Casey slowly raised his hands up in the air, his eyes fixed on the gun in his face.

"Stand up," the policeman ordered tersely, jerking the barrel upward once.

Casey rose to his feet, careful to his hands in view.

"Turn around slowly and put your hands on the wall."

Turning slowly, he turned and pressed his palms against the bricks. He heard the officer approach carefully and felt him patting him down, looking for weapons. _Oh shit…_ he was carrying a couple of knives, not to mention the hockey puck bombs in his belt and the taser concealed in his glove. His dad was going to kill- no, _destroy_ him. The two blades were absconded quickly, as well as the remainder of the bombs and the thick gloves. The officer clucked his tongue disapprovingly, making Casey flush in spite of himself.

"I'm going to have to take you in," the officer said, slapping a cuff on Casey's right wrist. The vigilante's eyes widened as the man brought his hands behind his back and fastened the other cuff on his left wrist.

"What for? I didn't do nothin'!" Casey protested loudly, swiveling his head around toward the policeman. The man looked back at him, unimpressed.

"You were found at the scene of an assault with a series of illegal weapons on your person. We need to ask you a few questions, son."

"This is bullshit, man!" Casey struggled slightly as the officer led him to the squad car blocking the alley entrance. The officer ignored him as he opened the door and helped Casey inside.

"I know my rights, man! I'm entitled to a phone call!" he complained as the policeman shut the door in his face. He turned away from the car and strode purposefully up the sidewalk.

"Hey! I ain't done talkin' to you man!"

Casey adjusted himself on the seat, leaning as far back as he was able to peer out the back window. The officer who had arrested him was joined by a woman cop, who was silently escorting a small dark girl with a blanket draped around her shoulders. Her eyes were wide and uncertain as she cast short tentative glances towards the squad car where Casey sat. He wanted to appeal to her, plead with her to tell the officers that he was innocent, but he knew that it was a waste of his time.

The officers talked to the girl for a few moments, their words muffled by the glass windows. She shuddered and nodded once, closing her eyes. The woman cop gestured kindly toward a second police car that had just pulled up and led the girl toward it.

The driver's side door opened and the policeman settled behind the wheel before turning back to address Casey.

"We'll be calling your folks when we get to the station, okay?"

Casey nodded sullenly, staring at the carpet between his sneakers. He was a dead man walking, so what was the point of saying any more?

He stared out the window for a long minute as the squad car pulled away from the curb. Something was bugging him about the whole thing. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but something was off in a big way. It wasn't that the guy was going to kill that girl. Shit like that happened in the city every day, and she had been one of the lucky ones. It was the guy himself. He couldn't see the guy's face, but something about him was definitely familiar.

The way he fought… Casey had definitely seen those moves. Also, the way the guy carried himself rung a bell. But where had he seen those things before?

Maybe Hun had gone off the deep end? No, he definitely would have known if it was him. He'd had his ass kicked by that guy too often. Maybe one of the Purple Dragons? Nah… those bastards couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag and this guy had overpowered him _way_ too easily to be one of them.

No, he couldn't have known that guy. He would have remembered those burning red eyes. The malice and hate that had resonated from those eyes were permanently burned into his memory. Casey shuddered involuntarily.

He sighed and leaned his head against the glass, resigning himself to the fact that he was in really deep shit this time. When the cops got a hold of his dad, there probably wasn't going to be much of Casey Jones to blame for all this.


	5. Heartbeat

**Wow... I've been putting this story off for entirely too long. I apologize for how long it has taken me to get this story, and thank everyone for reading and waiting so patiently for me to update. Thanks to Faithful Whispers for beta-reading this chapter! Hope you all enjoy!**

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The soles of her new sneakers slapped lightly against the concrete as April jumped over the turnstiles and into the turtle's lair. She was beat from a long day of school, but it was the good kind of tired. As usual, Casey hadn't bothered to show up to class, and she was sure that he was going to ask to copy her calculus homework… again. Oh well, he wasn't the focus of her thoughts right now.

The urgent phone call she'd received that morning from a very anxious Leonardo replayed in her ears as she scanned the empty lair for activity. He was convinced that she could get rid of Donnie's nightmares using her psychic powers, like she had when they had been attacked by the Dream Beavers. Personally, April was a little dubious that she could do that, but she promised that she would try. At the very least, she might be able to see what was causing them.

"Hello?"

April raised her voice as she walked farther into the lair, the direction of the dojo. No one was around, and the only sound came from the live television, where a rerun of Crognard was playing at a low volume. _Where is everyone? _

She hadn't taken a half dozen steps when Leo appeared from the dojo. He looked as grim as a cryptkeeper, though he attempted to smile as he approached. It looked horribly fake and made her feel even more concerned.

"Is he okay?"

There was no need to ask which 'who' she was talking about. He shot a glance toward the lab and sighed, like a disappointed father seeing his son going through a rebellious stage.

"He's been in there all day," Leo said gloomily. "Not really working himself to death, but… I haven't been able to get anything out of him and it's kind of freaking us out. He's been acting like a zombie, or a vampire."

"I'll see what I can do," she promised with a little two fingered salute. Leo fidgeted, twiddling his fingers awkwardly.

"It's probably a stupid idea," he said self-consciously, "but I am officially out of ideas. He won't talk to us about what his dreams and… I'm scared that something's wrong with him and I don't know what else to do."

April put a hand on his shoulder, and he covered it with his own, not quite meeting her eyes. She understood the weight of the responsibility he had taken on and how the thought that one of his team members might be in trouble must be excruciating.

"We'll figure it out. This is Donnie we're talking about. He's strong, and he's got us to help him."

Leo squeezed her hand lightly and April smiled as she stepped away. She ran up the steps, then rapped on the lab door. When there was no answer, she knocked again, a little more loudly. Again, there was only silence within. Finally, she had had enough of waiting and pushed open the door, cringing when the hinges squeaked loudly.

The room was dark; even the computer monitors were switched off. Piles of junk were everywhere, strewn about in abnormal messiness. Usually, everything was strategically placed in a sort of controlled chaos, but today, tools were thrown into random boxes and vials of fluid sat forgotten in a corner, some dripping onto important papers. This was definitely not normal for Donnie to be so worn out or stretched thin that he couldn't keep his sacred workspace clean.

Donatello himself lay sleeping at his desk, his head buried deeply in his arms, surrounded by a variety of papers and writing utensils. His soft snores carried across the room and made him sound like a purring cat. An indulgent smile pulled at the corners of April's mouth and she flipped the light switch up as she entered the room. Donnie didn't flinch at the sudden addition of light. He continued to snore, unfazed.

He was completely dead to the world, though that part wasn't so strange. What was strange was the sickly grey tinge to her friend's usually olive complexion and the open wounds on his face. What looked like claw marks on his cheeks were scabbing over but several more marks looked fresh, especially on his hands. Several of the cuts were deep, and still bleeding. What had he been doing? Playing with a tiger?

She placed a hand on his carapace and shook him lightly. With a surprised snort, his eyes fluttered open and he stared across the desktop with a dazed expression. Pity flooded April and gently ran her hand over his head. His scaly skin felt clammy, as if he had been woken a nightmare.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

"H-hey." He sat up stiffly and a couple of pieces of scrap paper that were stuck to his face fell heavily to the desk. He watched them, obviously dazed and half awake. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and a line of drool dropped from the corner of his mouth. She laughed lightly as he wiped the drool from his face.

"You feeling okay D?" April asked as she pulled up a chair to the desk. Donnie yawned, rubbing at his eyes, then grimaced sharply.

"Yeah, yeah… 'M fine. What time is it?"

"Four in the afternoon. Do you want some coffee?"

"Yes please," he said gruffly before burying the heel of his hand into his right eye and rubbing it roughly. April rubbed the top of his head tenderly once more before turning away.

"I'll be right back. You stay put."

She jogged into the kitchen and set up the coffeemaker to brew a full pot of strong coffee. Her mind kept wandering back to the marks on Donnie's face and hands as she watched the pitch black beverage drip down into the glass pot. They didn't look like self-harm marks, like cutting or anything like that, but it still made her skin crawl. Other than playing around with Leo's katana, she could see no way that he could sustain injuries like that.

When the coffeemaker beeped the completion of its task, she poured a generous amount into mugs for the two of them and walked back into the lab. Donnie looked up from rubbing his eyes and took one of the cups out of her hands, a drawn and exhausted looking smile on his lips.

"Thanks. You're an angel."

The moment the words were out of his mouth, he colored the shade of an overripe beet and began to stammer incoherently.

"What I m-mean is is th-that y-you're a very special person a-and I appreciate the coffee and-"

"I get the idea, Donnie, and thank you," she interrupted pleasantly, trying to hide her amusement behind her chipped ceramic mug. Donnie bit his lip awkwardly, then drained his coffee in three large swallows.

"What happened to your hands, D?" she asked in as casual a manner as she could manage. Donnie looked puzzled, then glanced down at his fingers. He flexed them experimentally, then sucked in his breath painfully.

"I… I don't know… I don't remember. That's been happening a lot lately. I keep waking up in a place I don't remember going to sleep in and I always have cuts and bruises I don't remember getting." He rubbed his face with his hands and winced. "Leo says I'm working myself into the ground, but I've been trying to take it easy."

"Here, let me…" She walked over to a shelf and grabbed his first aid kit off of a shelf. Sitting by him, she pulled some bandages and some antiseptic and worked on cleaning and dressing his cuts. Donnie's hands shook in her grasp, but she didn't pay much attention. Some of the cuts were deep and may probably require some stitches. April had no experience doing that, so she just made sure that they were clean at least.

"So, Leo says you've been having nightmares," she ventured cautiously as she draped an adhesive bandage around his thumb. The way that Donnie stiffened and averted his eyes told her that she had hit it right on the mark.

"They're not really that bad… Just some bad dreams," he mumbled, not meeting her eyes. April raised her eyebrows skeptically. She could read the turtle like a book and she knew that there wasn't a grain of truth to that.

"How long have you not been having these nightmares?"

"For about a week," he answered, paying a lot of attention to her hands as they finished their work and repackaged the kit.

"Would you like me to take a look?"

Donnie's brows furrowed as he raised his head and studied her, confusion etched onto his gaunt face.

"Look? At what?"

"In your head, D," she said patiently. "You know, look in at your dreams. See if there's anything that I can do to get rid of them."

"I... I don't know..." He hedged uncertainly. "I don't want you to see any of that."

"Come on, it's not like I haven't seen a lot of other crazy stuff since I've met you guys. The least I can do is help."

She smiled encouragingly, hoping to disarm any trepidation he might be feeling. She was a strong psychic and had traveled through the turtles' dreams before, so she was certain that she could handle whatever was haunting him. Donnie's resistance crumbled quickly and he shrugged half-heartedly.

"Well..."

She didn't give him an opportunity to decline.

"That settles it!"

April grabbed his chair and wheeled him out of the lab toward his bedroom. The action was so unexpected that Donnie didn't even have the chance to protest. He wanted to hide in a hole at the sight of his brothers in the living room, staring at the spectacle. Donnie pulled his head down into his shoulders in response to their curious, amused stares.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked petulantly as April backed the rolling chair into his bedroom, pushing open the door with her back. She scoffed at him gently and pulled him to his feet.

"Bed, mister. Now," she said sternly, not giving him the option of refusing. With a sigh, he climbed into bed and pulled his blankets over his legs and plastron. Laying his head back on the pillow, he searched her with his drooping, bloodshot eyes.

"So... You're just going to sit there?"

"Yep," she said as she pulled a worn book off of a shelf and settled in a chair next to the bed. "Just until you go to sleep. I don't think it works if you're awake."

Donnie closed his eyes, and for a moment, she thought he had drifted off to sleep. She was about to start reading the book when he groaned loudly.

"What?" She asked, suddenly alarmed. Donnie covered his eyes and sighed again.

"I can't sleep with you staring at me," he protested limply. April pinched her nose, trying to keep her temper in check.

"Would it helped if I turned around?"

"I… Maybe?"

He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. With a huff, April turned on her seat so that her back was to him and cracked open her book once more. She had barely finished reading ten pages about particle physics when she heard Donnie snoring, his breath whistling between his gapped teeth.

Closing the book, April turned back to the bed and pulled the chair closer. She cracked her knuckles, then her neck as she mentally prepared herself to go in. It had been a long time since she had used her psychic abilities to look into someone's mind. She didn't like doing it very often, feeling that it was a serious invasion of privacy, but in this case, she thought that she could make an exception. She placed her fingertips on his temples and concentrated, focusing all of her powers into Donnie's mind.

At first, she couldn't see much. Donnie's mindscape was dark and infinite, with wisps of fog rolling around her feet. It made her feel uneasy to see his mind be so dark and empty. April could make out the outlines of a number of skeletal trees around her and tufts of dry, dead grass that crunched under her feet every time she took a step. It was like a scene from a horror movie, and it sent chills up and down her spine. All that was missing was the serial killer hiding behind a tree…

She swallowed her unease and pressed ahead, hoping that she could find the source of Donnie's nightmares and get the hell out of there. April looked up and around at the surroundings, but there was little to see except the instead branches on the trees, animated by a wind that she could see, yet not feel, clawing at the black, grey and purple streaks in the sky. Silence, apart from her footsteps, shrouded her as she walked down the dark path.

She had a feeling that she was being watched, though she knew it was ridiculous. There was no one here except herself, and maybe Donnie's subconscious. Yeah. That's probably what it was. Maybe she would get to see Donnie here, and then she would ask him where the danger lay so that she could eliminate it.

It seemed as though she had been walking for hours through the ghostly trees when she first heard it. A soft chiming sound came the darkness from somewhere ahead of her; so faint that she almost missed it. April strained to hear it better and to discern its source. It could have been music… But she couldn't be sure… It was too irregular to be a bell. What else could it be? Was Donnie trying to tell her something?

Slowly, she pushed forward, trying to find the source of the sound. With each tentative step, the volume increased until the notes were recognizable. Yes, it was definitely music, but she still couldn't find the source. It must be right in front of her...

Something on the ground tripped her and she fell, sprawling ungracefully into the dirt. Her hands were sore as she picked herself off the ground and she looked down at the red welts on her palms. April turned back to see what had tripped her and was surprised to see that it was so small. Tentatively, she reached out and picked up the object. It was a wooden music box, chipped and gouged with a crude heart carved into the top. She recognized it at once. It was the music box that Donnie had made for her long ago. The one that she had refused at the farmhouse. Guilt pricked her heart as she remembered how heartbroken he had looked when she had turned him down, but she couldn't help how she felt.

Carefully, she lifted the lid a fraction and the tinkling chiming sounds she had heard before reappeared, ghostly and hollow. But there was something else there as well… another sound underneath the music. A duo of heavy thuds, then another and another. A steady beat, not in time with the melody of the music box.

She felt something wet on her fingers and curiously, she pulled her hand back. Her fingers were covered in something red and slick and smelled heavily of copper. Something in the box was _leaking_. Suddenly, April's throat felt dry and foreboding weighed her down like a rock around her throat. She knew what it was, but she didn't want to acknowledge it. It was too horrible.

Gingerly, she pulled open the lid of the box and almost screamed at the sight of the mass of pulsating purple and red muscle that lay inside, marinating in an inch deep pool of blood. The veins and arteries lay like bloated slugs on its surface and the sounds of the chambers contracting boomed like shots from a canon.

She was holding a functioning, dismembered heart.

Horrified, she threw the box with all her might into the darkness. There was a loud crash and something screamed; a horrible, blood curdling sound that made April cover her ears. Even with her ears stopped, she could hear the scream turn into a mournful wail, like a dying animal.

"No! Make it stop! I don't want to feel anymore!"

_Donnie_? It had been _his _voice echoing through the dreamscape, full of agony and despair. She whirled around, searching for him, wanting to help, but there was nothing but darkness surrounding her. His voice had been so loud and desperate that she had become inexplicably afraid that he was dying. She had almost forgotten that she was in his nightmare. That she might actually _be_ his nightmare.

_Naughty little girl; poking around where she doesn't belong…_

The voice that spoke was gruff and gravelly and full of malice. April whirled around, but could not find the source of the voice. She ran forward a few steps, thinking that she could catch the stranger in the darkness but there was nothing there but the suffocating fog.

"Who are you? Show yourself!"

Instinctively, she reached for her tessen, though it was nowhere to be found. In here, the only weapon she had was her mind.

_You are not safe here, _the voice taunted. _Leave while you still can, little girl. _

A strong force, like a gale of wind pushed her backward. She fought to keep her footing, but it was too strong. Her feet flew out from under her and she was flying. The flight was short lived, because the force was gone as soon as it had begun. The ground had vanished, like it had never existed. Beneath her was black, like an inky lagoon and suddenly, she was falling.

She opened her eyes with a terrified shriek. Hyperventilating, she looked down at her hands, still pressed against his temples. Donnie looked so pale that for one horrified instant, she thought he was dead. It was only the pulse that beat against her fingers that convinced her that he was still alive, just deeply asleep.

Shaking, she pulled her fingers away. They were clammy with sweat and she suddenly felt cold. Her palms stung and when she turned her hands over, they were covered with the red scrapes she had seen before. But that was impossible… She had fallen in his dreamscape. There shouldn't be any evidence of that here.

April hugged herself, hoping that it would bring her some comfort and wasn't surprised when it didn't. Her chest contracted and an unbidden sob escaped her mouth.

"April?"

Raph was suddenly at her side, pulling her to her feet. His touch was gentle and much kinder than usual as he draped his arm over her shoulder. April cling to him and held him tightly, finally feeling the safety and stability that he offered her.

"Let's get outta here."

She nodded and followed him without protest. When they were out in the hall, he took her by the shoulders and looked directly into her face.

"What happened in there? Is Donnie okay?"

She bit her lip and shook her head, trying to keep the tears from coming and barely succeeding.

"I don't think he is, Raph. Something is haunting him, and it's bad… It's really, really bad."


	6. Folly

**Hello all! Thank you everyone who has been keeping up with this story and a special thanks to those who left me lovely reviews to read. Seriously, you have no idea how wonderful those are to an author! A huge hug and thank you to Faithful Whispers, my lovely friend and partner in crime, for beta-reading this chapter for me. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Even with the light warmth from the flickering candles surrounding her, April still felt cold. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the images of what she had seen in Donnie's dreamscape out of her head. The pounding from that disgusting, dismembered heart still drummed in her ears and made her feel vulnerable and afraid, even with her family around her.

She, with Leo, Raph and Mikey, sat on their knees before Master Splinter in the dojo while she told the tale of what she had seen. None of them had said a word since she had began to describe the nightmare to them, though each of their faces expressed all of the distress and worry that they must be feeling.

"That's when I came out," April finished lamely, looking down at her hands. The palms were still red and scraped up from her fall, and little needles of pain pricked her hands at even the slightest movement. She still couldn't understand how this could have been possible. It was just a projection of the mind; there shouldn't have been any physical manifestation. It did explain a lot about Donnie's injuries… Maybe he was fighting back…

"That is very strange…," Splinter said softly after a few moments of thoughtful silence. "And you say that you were forced out by a voice?"

"Yeah," she admitted, "It said something like, 'You don't belong here, now leave.' And I was back in Donnie's room."

Master Splinter stroked his beard thoughtfully. It was true that he was not psychic like April was, but he was skilled in disciplines of the mind and asking his advice made her feel a little better.

"Have you ever heard this voice before, April?" he asked kindly. Again, she was forced to admit defeat.

"I don't think so, sensei." she replied stoically. "It did sound a little familiar, but I don't know where I could have heard that voice before."

"Maybe Shredder snuck a brainworm into Donnie's food," Mikey suggested with a shrug. "Or he got to him while we were patrolling and doesn't remember."

Raph smacked him across the back of the head, causing a yelp of pain from the younger turtle.

"That's not how it works, genius," he snarled impatiently. "You can't just eat the damn thing and you remember _everything_ afterward! Donnie would know if he had a worm in his head. He would've said something."

His jaw set and he looked down at his hands, clenched in his lap. Raph's assertions were so assured that no one attempted to argue with him. He would know best of all how those things affected people. The unsettled look in his eyes prompted April to place her hand on top of his in way of silent support. He didn't outwardly acknowledge the gesture, but he applied pressure to her hand with his thumb, wordlessly thanking her.

"Besides," Leo added as an afterthought, "it's not like Donnie's tried to hurt us. If anything, he's been hurting himself by working too hard. If Shredder had control over him, then he wouldn't have hesitated to strike us when we were most vulnerable."

"There is a darkness in his aura; I have felt it when I have been in his presence as of late," Splinter commented, pacing thoughtfully before his students. "Perhaps when Donatello is feeling stronger, he and I should meditate together to cleanse his spirit and to eliminate whatever is plaguing him."

"Do you think that's really gonna work, Master Splinter?" Mikey asked, his big blue eyes widening with curiosity.

"I believe that it will. At least it will be beneficial for us to try."

"I agree, sensei. It must be the best option to help Donnie," Leo said dutifully. Raph rolled his eyes and leaned over to April.

"Brown noser," he said as an aside, not bothering to keep his voice down. April knew better than to rise to the bait. All Raph wanted to do was pick a fight, and she wasn't the least bit interested. Leo, however, quickly allowed himself to be lured in.

"At least I listen when sensei talks! You just charge in like a bull and mess everything up!"

"At least _I_ can think for myself instead of trotting after him like a little mindless soldier!" Raph shot back belligerently.

The leader glared at his brother and Splinter slammed his stick against the floor. All four teenagers jumped at the sound, stunned suddenly into guilty silence.

"_Enough_!" Splinter fumed" I will have no more of this senseless bickering!"

"He started it," Leo complained peevishly, but Splinter held up a hand forbiddingly.

"I do not want to hear another word from either of you. Contrary to what you may believe, this is not about you. This is about Donatello. Your childishness will do nothing to help him."

Leo's face had turned the shade of a ripe tomato, and even Raph looked embarrassed. Both looked away from each other deliberately in a last ditch effort of defiance. Mikey twiddled his thumbs innocently and looked at April, maybe hoping for some support. Unfortunately, she didn't have much to give. She shrugged helplessly, offering him a tight smile.

Splinter's eyes looked tired as he gazed over his sons. April knew that look. It was the same one her own dad got when she was about to get a lecture for misbehaving.

"April, will you go check on Donatello?" Splinter asked purposefully. "I need to discuss some matters with my sons in private."

The three turtles grimaced significantly at Splinter's implication. April stood up and immediately caught Mikey's pleading 'get me out of here' look. She had no choice but to leave him behind to be lectured by their father.

"Hai, sensei."

She bowed to her sensei before leaving the dojo. Secretly, she was glad that she had been given the option to escape. Master Splinter's lessons could be harshly taught at times; sometimes with words, often times with extra katas.

When April slipped back into Donnie's room, she suddenly felt very cold. But... that wasn't right...Maybe it was her memory of the nightmare that caused her such foreboding. There wasn't any danger here. However, she couldn't quite dismiss the chills that crept up her spine like a poisonous spider on its web.

Donnie was still sleeping heavily, his blankets and sheets tangled around his long legs as if he were a mummy in a sarcophagus. He still looked troubled and he twitched periodically, whimpering a little in his sleep. April sat down by him and placed a hand on top of his head. He stilled at her touch, though the disturbed look stayed on his face.

It pained her that her friend so vulnerable and scared. She would have given everything she had to help him beat whatever was troubling him, but there wasn't much more that she could do. Part of her had hoped that she could have banished whatever demons had been hiding in Donnie's mind like a psychic exorcist and emerged a hero, but instead, she had been kicked out like an unwanted cat. It had almost embarassed her to be turned out like that. She was a powerful psychic for heaven's sake!

Whoever was torturing Donnie was very strong, and she was sure that he was getting stronger. April sincerely hoped that Splinter could do more to help than she could. He had to...

Her thought process was interrupted when Donnie stirred gently and his eyes slid open. They were still bloodshot, and the red in his irises was much more pronounced than usual. Dazed, they roamed around the room for a moment before landing on her. It only took a moment for the confusion to leave his gaze and recognition to take its place. April smiled reassuringly and smoothed her hand over his bald scalp, comforting him like a mother tending a small child.

"Hey."

"Hey."

His voice sounded deeper, and more gravelly, but she just thought that it came from his deep slumber. She sat down next to him and put her hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. His skin felt cool to the touch, though the clammy feeling was still there.

"You were only asleep for a few hours. How do you feel?"

Donnie gave her a half smile and reached up to take a hold of her small hand.

"Never felt better, especially with you here."

He ran his thumb over the top of her fingers gently, as if he were afraid she might shatter like glass. April was surprised by the level of intimacy in his touch. He wasn't acting clumsy and embarrassed in his flirtations as he usually did, in fact, he looked almost arrogant with confidence. It was so against what she knew that she didn't know how to respond.

"Oh… um… well, that's… that's really sweet D, but I have to talk to you."

"About what?" he asked, not even looking up at her. His attention seemed to only be invested in his ministrations to her hand. April tried to keep her mind on the matter at hand, though his touch was really distracting.

"I got to look in your dreamscape, and I got to see into one of your… bad dreams."

Donnie nodded vaguely, still tracing her knuckles with his wide thumb. She felt slightly annoyed that he wasn't taking this very seriously and pulled her hand back.

"There was something wrong there, Donnie. Like… Worse than when the Dream Beavers attacked you. A _lot _worse."

"What did you see?"

The gruffness in his voice still hadn't completely abated, but mostly, he sounded like the same old Donnie. Even so, something was off. Like… seriously off. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it… She pushed back the uncomfortable feeling in her gut. It must just be in her head. It was was nerves… That was it. However, her excuses sounded lame in her head.

"There was a forest, where everything was dead: the trees, the grass, everything. It went on for miles and miles. Then there was this box…"

April shuddered at the memory. The slickness of the blood on her hands, the grotesque heart, purple and bloated, still beating heavily. She knew that she would be seeing that damned heart in her dreams for weeks to come. Not wanting to delve into the details again, she hurried on.

"And there was a voice," April continued, swallowing to whet her dry throat. "Someone was there, Donnie; telling me that I didn't belong there and that I needed to leave."

Donnie cocked his head to the side and grinned skeptically. She didn't care for that look at all. It was like a condescending parent who wasn't remotely convinced of their child's tale.

"So what are you saying? There's someone in my head, giving me nightmares?"

April frowned and shrugged.

"I don't know. Whatever's going on, we're going to figure it out. Master Splinter thinks that meditating-."

Donnie threw back his head and laughed harshly. April was taken aback by the unexpected response. He had never regarded Master Splinter's suggestions with such flippancy before.

"I don't think that's gonna work, April," he chuckled when his laughter had mostly subsided. "That sounds like wishful thinking on his part. You can get rid of whatever's there. _You're_ the powerful psychic; not him."

As much as she wanted to be flattered by his faith in her, April couldn't quite allow herself to believe him. Was it his disdain for sensei's methods? Or was it something else?

"Master Splinter wants to help you, and I think he can!" she insisted. Again, Donnie shook his head, more determined this time.

"I don't need him, April… I need _you_."

Donnie placed his large hand over hers and April thought about pulling her hand away from his again. But she didn't. His hand was warm and made her feel secure, though that annoying feeling in the back of her mind still persisted. What was the matter with her?

"Do you have any idea how special you are?" He asked earnestly.

April blinked. How was she supposed to respond to _that_?

"Uh…" she said, completely conscious of how idiotic she must be sounding right now.

Gently, he brushed her bangs out of her eyes, tucking them behind her ear. His touch his light and gave her goosebumps. April found herself speechless and breathless as his fingertips slid down her temple.

"You are unique," he said, answering his own question. "You are stunning and incredible and no other woman on Earth can hope to hold a candle to you."

"Donnie...," she sighed, then swallowed hard. Her mouth felt dry again and her heart raced at the speed of a hummingbird's wings. He pressed a finger to her lips, shushing her. His red eyes seemed to be searching the depths of her soul, and it made her feel lightheaded and vulnerable all at once.

"I mean it," Donnie said softly. "You're the most beautiful creature in the world, or in any other... And… well, I love you."

He cupped her cheek and leaned in toward her. April was stunned into immobility, since he had never taken such a brazen action before. He pressed his lips against hers and April breathed in his scent as she returned the kiss. His lips were warm and soft and she was completely lost in the moment and in his embrace.

For a long moment, they were all that existed. No nightmares, no voices; just she and Donnie..,

Then, she remembered who she was kissing.

Donnie. Her best friend.

_Oh God, what I am doing? _This wasn't right… Her hormones were running away with her. She jerked back from him, her hands pressed to her beating heart. He was panting slightly, his eyes bright with excitement. It hurt to see that happiness in his face that she couldn't reciprocate.

"Donnie... This is... going too fast."

"Fast?" He frowned, perplexed, so she hastened to explain herself.

"I'm... Not ready for this. This is just so sudden, and... I can't. I'm sorry."

Something dark flashed behind his eyes and the chills she had felt before spiked exponentially. Was he... _angry_ with her? Even if he was, he had no right to be. It was _her_ decision who she took this step with; no one else's. He had to understand that. However, she felt inexplicably sheepish that she had allowed it to go as far as it had. She couldn't blame him for being disappointed, she supposed.

A shrill buzzing broke the silence between them, and April gratefully reached for her phone. It was Casey. Oh, thank God. Anything to get her out of the awkward situation she'd gotten herself into. She quickly hit the 'accept call' button.

"Hey Casey," she said as cheerfully as she could, turning away from Donnie's indignant stare.

_"April! I need to see ya." _ He sounded breathless over the phone. April frowned and stood up, stopping up her other ear to hear him better.

"What? What's going on?"

_"I got busted, yo." _

"Busted? For what, being a public nuisance?"

He huffed into the phone and she smiled, thinking that he was joking. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Donnie's eye twitch and the look of rage on his face made her almost miss Casey's next words.

_"I'm serious, Red. The cops picked me up last night, and I just got let go."_

"Oh my God! What happened?"

She gripped the phone tighter. What had that knucklehead done this time? Did he kill one of the Purple Dragons? No way… They wouldn't have let him out if he actually killed someone.

"_I'll tell ya when I see ya, but I gotta get away from Pop for a while. He's been chewing my ass out for twelve solid hours. Can you meet me at the park?" _

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Just stay where you are. I'm coming."

She ended the call and turned back to Donnie. He was glaring at her sourly and she averted her gaze. Oh boy, this wasn't going to get any easier any time soon...

"Casey got arrested last night," she explained shortly. "I'm gonna go see if he's okay."

"I'll come with-" He started to stand up but April hastily shook her head, forestalling his action.

"No!" she said a little too quickly. Then, feeling like she had spoken too rashly, tried again. "No, it's daytime, and you need to get some more sleep anyway. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Inexplicable relief filled her as she hurried to the door. She had to get away from him for a while; to clear her head and work out a plan. How had she been so stupid? She had pulled the door open a few inches before he called out to her.

"April?"

"Yeah?"

She turned back, her hand still holding the open door. He was trying to smile, but the attempt was painful to look at and appeared more like a clown's painted smile. The spectacle creeped her out, but she forced herself to look anyway.

"Be careful out there. It's going to be dark soon, and there's that nutcase on the loose."

April had heard about that guy on the news; the one who had been killing women. She wasn't afraid of him, not really. She was a trained kunoichi and a psychic one at that. Masked killers beware.

"Don't worry. I'll be with Casey, so I'll be fine."

Whatever he said next was lost to her as she stepped out into the hallway. She thought about going back and apologizing for what happened between them, but she was certain that if she did, he would take it the wrong way.

And she wasn't quite sure how she did feel about him. Her cheeks were still burning as she walked down the tunnel that would get her back to the surface.

She wasn't going to lie, she liked how Donnie's hands felt on her skin and how sweet his mouth had tasted, but something stronger inside of herself had kept her from enjoying it. But this was the sort of thing that ruined friendships and their friendship was to valuable to her to jeopardize.

She loved Donnie… She just wasn't sure how in love with him she was. He was smart, funny, brave and loyal, but there were times when he tried too hard to impress her and it could make her uncomfortable. Right now, a relationship like this was too hard. That wasn't what she needed.

She was going to have to be smart to find her way out of this one, but something inside of her told her that this might be a battle that she had already lost.


End file.
